Talk'n Hawks

Entries with the tag: brandon saad

My son was just asking me the other day about what ever happened to Brandon Saad. Saad was the 43rd overall pick in last years Draft The 2nd rounder, ^ foot, 180 pounds has been playing in Saginaw. The left winger was one of the last couple of players cut in the pre-season. Here’s an update on him via the Hawks’ website.

Blackhawks prospect Brandon Saad has been burning up the Ontario Hockey League as of late. In 16 games through January and part of February, Saad has put up 32 points (11G, 21A), contributing to his lofty total of 54 (21G, 33A) in 30 appearances. He is currently working on a 12-game point streak, the last 11 after he was named Saginaw captain on Jan. 17, and is averaging a team-best 1.8 points per game, good for the second highest scoring rate in the OHL behind Sarnia’s Nail Yakupov, who is likely to be taken first overall in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft.

After Saad’s two-game stint with the Blackhawks at the start of this season, he was sent back to the Saginaw Spirit and made it clear from the outset that he had benefited from his time in Chicago. Three games into his OHL season, Saad recorded five points (4G, 1A) against the Brampton Battalion, marking the beginning of an offensive surge that would produce 18 points in eight October appearances

The Hawks made more roster cuts in the last couple of days.They have assigned forwards Kyle Beach, Jimmy Hayes, and Peter LeBlanc, and defensemen Brian Connelly and Joe Lavin to the Rockford Ice Hogs. (I have tickets for a couple of games in October and November and I’m really looking forward to seeing a lot of these guys in person)

The Hawks training camp roster now stands at 33 active players, which includes 21 forwards, 9 defensemen and three goaltenders. As always, the full roster can be found at chicagoblackhawks.com. Among those still around is Brandon Saad, the kid I’ve been talking about all of camp. After the first time I saw him play, I wrote that he had the potential to be “a dark horse” that seems to emerge during most training camps. Apparently Coach Q agrees, saying, “If he keeps playing that way every day we’ll probably be talking about him the next day. This is not something we envisioned. But every training camp there’s someone who gets your attention and captures it, makes you look at the case differently. He’s done that.”

For those who aren’t familiar with him, Saad is an 18 year old Pittsburgh area native. He was the Hawks second round (43rd overall) pick in the 2012 Draft.